3D ITS campus on the web: A WebGL implementation

Multimedia web experience can be increased using 3D graphics on the web. Proprietary systems need specific plug-ins to download and install. Therefore, open standard methods have been used increasingly. WebGL is one of those that is a cross-platform, web standard for a 3D graphics API based on OpenGL ES 2.0. There are many other Javascript libraries that abstract WebGL and results in higher code level. One of the libraries is Three.js, the most popular library/API for WebGL-based 3D graphics. This paper proposed an implementation of WebGL and Three.js libraries for a 3D ITS Campus information system. The proposed system can be viewed using two modes: ground and free modes. In the ground view mode, users can not move in vertical direction. Whereas the free view mode enables users to move in any direction. A usability testing was performed after development. The participants consist of 12 postgraduate students who are currently studying at the Informatics Department ITS, graduated from both ITS and non-ITS campus in their previous study. Results from the experiment show that the proposed system effectively render the ITS campus (83% of participants successfully view the 3D ITS campus on their own computers) and most participants suggest to add more buildings and natural objects like trees and ponds to the system.